Andbew dietz



A. DIETZ.

Dust Brush.

Patented July 3, 1866.

WITNESSES.

N. PETERS. Phnlwlilhngnphor Washington. [1Q

ueless.

* UNITED STATES PATENT (Darlene ANDREW DIETZ, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

nus-T BRUSH AND BROOM.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 56,01 8, dated July 3,1866; antedated June 22, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW DIETZ, of the city of New York, in the countyof New York and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Dust Brushes and Brooms; and I do hereby declare that thefollowingis a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon, and making a part of this specification.

The nature or character of my invention consists in the production of adust brush or broom made from or out of chamois or soft leather which issuitable for all the uses and purposes to which ordinary dust brushesand brooms are applied, and which is free, by reason of the nature ofthe material of which it is made, from anything that will scratch or marthe most l1ighly-polished surface, which can also be washed when dirty,and which is also very durable.

Figure 1 is a representation of a complete dust-brush, and Fig. 2 is adetached view of a single feather of the brush.

The better kinds ofdust-brushes-such as are generally used for dustingfurniture, carriages, &c., are usually made of bristles or feathers.Such brushes, however, when made of even the softest bristles, soon wearoff at the feather ends of the bristles, and are then very likely toscratch or mar any polished surface to which they may be applied. Whenmade of feathers they are even more likely to scratch and injure suchsurfaces as soon as the light parts of the feathers are worn off, asthen the stiff hard stem is bare and rubs directly upon any surface uponwhich the brush may be used, and every broken feather, by increasing thenumber of stiff points, renders the brush less fitted for use. The lightparts of the feathers are also very soon worn and broken ofi, and suchbrushes thus soon rendered val- On very highly polished surfaces suchbrushes cannot be used at all with safety, but chamois or soft leather,which will not scratch or mar, has to be used Indeed, soft leatheris theonly substance which can be safely used for dusting or rubbinghighly-polished surfaces, whether of wood or metal, and

its use for such purposes is universal, though in many respects it isinconvenient.

My invention has for its object the trans forming the soft-leather skininto a brush, thereby securing all the softness and desirableness of theleather, and also the advantages and convenience of the brush.

The leather is first cut, by hand or other wise, into strips or piecessomewhat shaped like or resembling the feathered part of a quill, asshown by A, Fig. 2, and the edges and upper end of such pieces are alsodivided or finely slit toward the middle, substantially as shown in Fig.2, so that they will be more pliable, and can accommodate themselves tothe inequalities of the surfaces over which they may be passed. Two ofsuch pieces are then fastened by strong cement, one on either side, to asmall tapering piece of rattan, B, or any suitable material which givesstrength and stiffness, like the central part of an ordinary feather.Such part B should be large enough to insure sufficient stiffness, andat the same time be elastic.

To prevent too great stiffness at the end, and also avoid the danger ofthe rattan being broken if reduced quite small, and to give the greatestflexibility at the part where most required, the rattan, or itsequivalent, does not extend to the end, but only about halfway, or alittle more, as indicated by the heavy lines in Fig. 2, and from itstermination a strip of leather, 0, extends nearly to the top of thefeather, which secures proper stilfness, and at the same time allows theend of the feather to bend and yield when brought in contact with anirregular or other surface. The leather when so cut-that is, its edgesfinely divided into narrow strips and fixed to any central ribbecomessubstantially like a feather, and a suitable number of these placedtogether and secured to or in a suitable handle, D, form a brush, asrepresented in Fig. 1, having all required flexibility and elasticity,and suitable for use for the same purposes and in the same manner asordinary brushes of similar form.

A brush so constructed is as soft and can be used for all the purposesfor which chamois skins, so called, are used, will not mar or injureeven the highest-polished surfaces, is far The use and application ofleather in the construction of brushes and brooms, substau tiall y asand for the purposes setforth.

Witnesses:

S. D. LAW, W. R. RoNALns.

A. DIETZ.

